UBS posts best second quarter in almost a decade despite wealth management troubles July 23, 2019 UBS reported its strongest second-quarter set of results in almost 10 years this morning, trumping analyst estimates for net profit despite nursing losses in its flagship wealth management unit. While the Swiss group also echoed a number of its global financial peers by posting a fall in investment banking, retail and corporate banking helped push [...]
Joules defies retail anguish with growth across the board July 23, 2019 Clothes store Joules this morning announced a double-figures spike in profit despite tough high street conditions. The full-year results will be the last for outgoing CEO Colin Porter, who said the firm was “well-positioned for continued success”. Read more: Joules lures in top Asda director as new chief executive The figures Pre-tax profit rose 14.9 [...]
Farewell, Failing Grayling: Here are your five finest moments in office July 23, 2019 Any article written about transport secretary Chris Grayling over the past year has tended to start with a not-so-favourable adjective. “Embattled”, “Beleaguered” and “Failing” spring to mind. As of this week, Grayling – who is likely to be ousted as the head of the Department for Transport (DfT) when Boris Johnson enters No.10 – can [...]
Has ASOS just issued its third and final profits warning? July 23, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. With ongoing operational issues aplenty, investor confidence hinges on a belief in stock market adages. Warehouse troubles drove ASOS (LSE:ASC) to a third profits warning in less than a year as the fast-fashion giant slipped even further behind the market value of upstart rival Boohoo Group (LSE:BOO). Shares dived as much as 22 per cent [...]
Santander to challenge Orcel in €100m legal battle over botched CEO plan July 23, 2019 Santander has vowed today to fight a high-stakes legal battle with Andrea Orcel after withdrawing its offer to appoint the banker as its new chief executive. The Spanish bank has said it will challenge a €100m (£90m) lawsuit from Orcel, the investment banker who was denied the role of chief executive just four months after [...]
Trump’s tweets do bitcoin and Facebook a favour July 23, 2019 Donald Trump’s recent tweet about bitcoin and that Facebook’s new quasi-crypto the “libra” would get the full force of the US regulators if they “want to become a bank” has put the crypto kitty amongst the pigeons. Why now? Surely Trump doesn’t care about bitcoin? Well, it was timed just before Facebook had to testify [...]
UK house sales plummet in June, held back by Brexit ‘ball and chain’ July 23, 2019 House sales crashed 16.5 per cent in June, as the property market took a “wait-and-see” attitude to transactions amid Brexit uncertainty. Monthly HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures showed British residential property sales fell to 84,490, more than one-sixth down on the same period last year. Read more: London house prices suffer worst plunge in [...]
Santander profits dive 18 per cent as UK mortgage margins squeezed July 23, 2019 Santander posted an 18 per cent plunge in second quarter profits due to one-off acquisition costs and rising pressure on mortgage margins in the UK. Read more: Santander ‘offered Andrea Orcel 52m euros’ in botched CEO plan The figures Profit before tax fell 18 per cent year on year to €1.39bn (£1.25bn) between April and [...]
Apple in ‘advanced talks’ to buy Intel’s smartphone chip business July 23, 2019 Apple is said to be in advanced talks to buy Intel’s smartphone-modem chip business in a deal worth at least $1bn (£804m). Read more: Apple boss Tim Cook brands reports he fell out with Jony Ive ‘absurd’ The tech giant is discussing the purchase with the chipmaker and a deal could be reached in the [...]
Fevertree shares go flat as poor weather hits sales growth July 23, 2019 Shares in Fevertree fell more than five per cent in early trading after it said poor weather put a damper on growth in the first half. Read more: Fevertree boss Tim Warrillow quadruples pay package in 2018 The figures Revenue increased 13 per cent to £117.3m in the six months to the end of June. [...]